It’s not unheard of for a piece of mail to get lost or show up later than expected, but a woman in Illinois is grateful for a chance to read a letter that was written to her parents eight decades ago and was recently found at the U.S. Post Office in Dekalb.
“A message from the past, seemingly showing up out of nowhere, that’s pretty incredible,” Jeannette George told WIFR.
On Dec. 26, 2023, Jeannette received the letter, which was originally sent to her parents, Louis and Lavena George. The letter resurfaced at the post office on Dec. 18, 2023, but it was originally postmarked on June 23, 1943, in Amboy, Illinois, which is around 105 miles outside of Chicago.
“Everybody was just like, ‘My God,’ you know? Gobsmacked — just like, ‘What is this?’” Jeannette said of the letter, which was addressed to “Mr & Mrs. Louis George.”
The letter ended up in Jeannette’s hands thanks to the power of social media. A post office employee managed to track down her sister, Grace Salazar, and eventually, the letter, which was sent 80 years ago, got to Jeannette.